Eldon among teams to fall from ranks of unbeaten

Saturday

Aug 30, 2014 at 6:31 AM

Lakers and Tigers also lose. Indians stay undefeated

Derek Helling Lake Sun Sports Editor

A nearly perfect game was what the Eldon Mustangs needed at home on Friday, Aug. 29, to get to 2-0 and send the Hogan Prep Rams home with their first loss on the season. It started out that way for Eldon but unfortunately for the Mustangs, it wasn’t to last.

Eldon won the toss and marched right down the field, splitting carries between Shane Randall and Levi Shinn behind the Mustang offensive line. It was Randall who would punch the ball into the end zone from four yards out. After a failed point-after-touchdown attempt, Eldon held a 6-0 lead with 7:31 left in the first quarter.

The Mustangs kicked the ball off and played sound defense, forcing the Rams to punt. That would prove to be the high-water mark of the night for the Eldon, however. Cole Hedrick fumbled away the punt and Hogan recovered. A few plays later, Hogan had tied up the game with a touchdown pass.

From there on out, the Rams would score 20 unanswered points as Mustang defenders struggled to bring the Hogan ball carriers to the ground. Early in the third quarter the score was 26-6.

Eldon took to the air offensively in the third quarter to try to compensate for the deficit and had some success. With just under six minutes left in the third quarter, quarterback Nick Hendrix found Shinn in the end zone from 22 yards out to cut the score to 26-12.

That little bit of momentum Eldon got was short-lived however, as the Rams’ Bryce Jackson trampled it underfoot with another long touchdown run. Another failed two point conversion made the score 32-12 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.

Not to be deterred, the Mustangs’ Austin Kempker returned the Hogan kickoff to the Rams’ 23 yard line and a few plays later, Shinn ran the ball into the end zone. A fake kick play for a two-point conversion attempt failed, and the score was 32-18 with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter.

From there it was a repeat of a circumstance that the Eldon faithful would like to forget. Rams’ running back Edward Collins again broke several would-be tackles and ran the long field into the end zone. This time Hogan would convert the two-point attempt and take a 40-18 lead with 1:25 left in the third quarter.

Eldon would get another touchdown run by Randall early in the third quarter, but another long touchdown run by Collins would make that a moot point with just under eight minutes left in the game.

Both teams would add another touchdown run, by Collins and Eldon’s Trenton Kidwell, before the night ended to create the final score at 55-33.

“We’ve had a transition in defensive coordinators and the kids are adjusting well. We just didn’t tackle very well tonight,” Eldon head coach Shannon Jolley commented.

The Mustangs finished with 377 yards of total offense, including 292 on the ground. Randall was the leader with 108 yards on 22 carries. Hendrix finished the night 5-for-11 for 82 yards and the touchdown to Shinn, who led the team in receiving yards with 60 on three catches. Randall also had three catches for 25 yards. Chris Lemen led Eldon in tackles with three.

“I think consistency [enabled us to be successful offensively]. We’re doing the same things that we’ve always done and our kids have been really good at it. We’re going to be tough offensively ,” Jolley added. The Mustangs are now 1-1 on the season.

The Camdenton Lakers were locked up in a tight battle that was tied at 13 going into the final minutes of the contest. With just over two minutes left in the game, the host West Plains Zizzers claimed a 19-13 advantage that the Lakers couldn’t overcome. Camdenton is now 1-1 on the season as well.

Versailles lost at Fulton 43-6 to drop their record to 1-1.

The Osage Indians claimed a 35-34 victory at Moberly to remain undefeated. Quarterback Austin Riley threw for over 350 yards in the contest to lead Osage to victory. The Indians are now 2-0 under head coach Devin Johnson.

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